Publications

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Alumni Spotlight: Cissy Chen (MBA 2019) - MBA

Blog Blog MBA Voices Filter Results Arrow Down Arrow Up Read posts from Author Alumni Author Career and Professional Development Staff Author HBS Community Author HBS Faculty Author MBA Admissions Author MBA Students Topics Topics 1st Year (RC) 2+2 Program 2nd Year... View Details

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Business, Government & the International Economy Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

shortlisted for the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. Caroline M. Elkins : Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire (Alfred A. Knopf, 2022) was selected for the 2022 Books of the Year by... View Details

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Teacher Profiles - Case Method Project

Elverson Philadelphia, PA Subjects: US History, AP Government, Social Science OR Molly Bruins St Mary's School Medford, OR NY Sue Brumer White Plains High School White Plains, NY NC Mark Brunton Charlotte Latin School Charlotte, NC Subjects: US History, Modern World... View Details

10 May 2016
First Look

May 10, 2016

Agricultural Advice: Technology Adoption, Diffusion and Sustainability By: Cole, Shawn A., and A. Nilesh Fernando Abstract—We examine the role of management in agricultural productivity View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Danatbank

By: David A. Moss, Cole Bolton and Andrew Novo

In the summer of 1931, Germany was struggling with a deepening economic crisis. Production had fallen, unemployment was high, and bank deposits and gold were being withdrawn from the country at a rapid pace, threatening the value of the German mark. The country's third... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk Management; Business History; Capital Markets; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Germany

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Events - Private Capital Project

Walker (HarbourVest Partners), led by George Serafeim (Harvard Business School) for the Limited Partnership Perspective. The Academic Perspective was provided by Josh Lerner (Harvard Business School) with... View Details

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Winners & Runners-Up | New Venture Competition

Runner-Up A tool built by the trans community that addresses clinicians’ barriers around learning and advocacy. SeaCycle Hande Ilhan (MBA 2025) Jakob Spiess (MBA 2025) Social Enterprise Track Crowd Favorite Pioneering sustainable... View Details

July 2014
Article

Smart Money? The Effect of Education on Financial Outcomes

By: Shawn A. Cole, Anna Paulson and Gauri Kartini Shastry

Household financial decisions are important for household welfare, economic growth and financial stability. Yet, our understanding of the determinants of financial decision-making is limited. Exploiting exogenous variation in state compulsory schooling laws in both... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Investment; Decisions; Behavior; Financial Condition

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Online Business in Society Courses | HBS Online

Professor Rebecca Henderson Become a purpose-driven leader by learning how to influence key stakeholders and integrate values into your work to catalyze system-level change. 3 weeks, 7-9 hrs/week Enroll by... View Details

November 2011 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Attack of the Clones: Birchbox Defends Against Copycat Competitors

By: Peter A. Coles and Benjamin Edelman

Birchbox offers trial-sized beauty products delivered monthly by mail—attracting rave reviews. Seeing the success of this model, numerous "copycat" clones seek to offer the same service. Many of these copycats focus on non-U.S. countries, but others are challenging... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy

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Sustainable Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

Professors Shawn Cole & Vikram Gandhi Evaluate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, and learn how to incorporate them into investment decisions and measure and manage their impact. 6 weeks, 5... View Details

March 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

UBS and Auction Rate Securities (A)

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Shawn A. Cole and Siddharth Bhaskar Shenai

UBS, a global financial services company, must decide whether to continue to support the market for Auction Rate Securities in the face of a growing financial crisis. These instruments, underwritten by UBS, were marketed to clients as highly liquid and safe... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Asset Pricing; Financial Liquidity; Financial Instruments; Government Legislation; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry

December 2007
Case

Envisioning "Free Banking" in Antebellum New York (A)

By: David A. Moss and Cole Bolton

Banks throughout New York State suspended specie payments (i.e., payments in gold and silver) in May 1837 following the collapse of several state banks and the onset of a nationwide financial panic. Amid the chaos, the upstart Whigs were able to depose the longstanding... View Details

Keywords: History; Government Legislation; Capital; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; New York (state, US)

December 2007 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Wall Street's First Panic (A)

By: David A. Moss and Cole Bolton

In the early 1790s, a flood of newly issued public and private securities sparked an investment boom in the nascent United States. In New York, the bustling commercial district along Wall Street emerged as the center of the city's securities trade. One of the many... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Instruments; Auctions; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry

Article

Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India

By: Sarthak Gaurav, Shawn A. Cole and Jeremy Tobacman

Recent financial liberalization in emerging economies has led to the rapid introduction of new financial products. Lack of experience with financial products, low levels of education, and low financial literacy may slow adoption of these products. This article reports... View Details

Keywords: Literacy; Insurance; Marketing; Decisions; Demand and Consumers; Financial Instruments; Emerging Markets; Education; Personal Finance; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Innovation and Invention; Gujarat

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General Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Healthcare Executives in 2017. William C. Kirby : Awarded a Dr. Phil. Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctorate) by Hong Kong Baptist University in 2017. Nancy F. Koehn : Recipient of the 2017 Jennie F. McLaughlin Award for Lifelong Learning from... View Details

Article

Understanding the Advice of Commissions-Motivated Agents: Evidence from the Indian Life Insurance Market

By: Santosh Anagol, Shawn Cole and Shayak Sarkar

We conduct a series of field experiments to evaluate the quality of advice provided by life insurance agents in India. Agents overwhelmingly recommend unsuitable, strictly dominated products, which provide high commissions to the agent. Agents cater to the beliefs of... View Details

Keywords: Advice; Customers; Insurance; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Ethics; India